Aside from recording stellar nucleosynthesis, a few elements in presolar grains can also provide insights into the galactic chemical evolution (GCE) of nuclides. We have studied the carbon, silicon, iron, and nickel isotopic compositions of presolar silicon carbide (SiC) grains from asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars to better understand GCE. Since only the neutron-rich nuclides in these grains have been heavily in uenced by the parent star, the neutron-poor nuclides serve as GCE proxies. Using CHILI, a new resonance ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS) instrument, we measured 74 presolar SiC grains for all iron and nickel isotopes. With the CHARISMA instrument, 13 presolar SiC grains were analyzed for iron isotopes. All grains were also measured by NanoSIMS for their carbon and silicon isotopic compositions. A comparison of the measured neutron-rich isotopes with models for AGB star nucleosynthesis shows that our measurements are consistent with AGB star predictions for low-mass stars between half-solar and solar metallicity. Furthermore, our measurements give an indication on the 22Ne( ,n) 25Mg reaction rate. In terms of GCE, we nd that the GCE-dominated iron and nickel isotope ratios, 54Fe/56Fe and 60Ni/ 58Ni, correlate with their GCE-dominated counterpart in silicon, 29Si/ 28Si. The measured GCE trends include themore » Solar System composition, showing that the Solar System is not a special case. However, as seen in silicon and titanium, many presolar SiC grains are more evolved for iron and nickel than the Solar System. This con rms prior ndings and agrees with observations of large stellar samples that a simple age-metallicity relationship for GCE cannot explain the composition of the solar neighborhood.« less

@article{osti_1414366,
title = {Simultaneous iron and nickel isotopic analyses of presolar silicon carbide grains},
author = {Trappitsch, Reto and Stephan, Thomas and Savina, Michael R. and Davis, Andrew M. and Pellin, Michael J. and Rost, Detlef and Gyngard, Frank and Gallino, Roberto and Bisterzo, Sara and Cristallo, Sergio and Dauphas, Nicolas},
abstractNote = {Aside from recording stellar nucleosynthesis, a few elements in presolar grains can also provide insights into the galactic chemical evolution (GCE) of nuclides. We have studied the carbon, silicon, iron, and nickel isotopic compositions of presolar silicon carbide (SiC) grains from asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars to better understand GCE. Since only the neutron-rich nuclides in these grains have been heavily in uenced by the parent star, the neutron-poor nuclides serve as GCE proxies. Using CHILI, a new resonance ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS) instrument, we measured 74 presolar SiC grains for all iron and nickel isotopes. With the CHARISMA instrument, 13 presolar SiC grains were analyzed for iron isotopes. All grains were also measured by NanoSIMS for their carbon and silicon isotopic compositions. A comparison of the measured neutron-rich isotopes with models for AGB star nucleosynthesis shows that our measurements are consistent with AGB star predictions for low-mass stars between half-solar and solar metallicity. Furthermore, our measurements give an indication on the 22Ne( ,n)25Mg reaction rate. In terms of GCE, we nd that the GCE-dominated iron and nickel isotope ratios, 54Fe/56Fe and 60Ni/58Ni, correlate with their GCE-dominated counterpart in silicon, 29Si/28Si. The measured GCE trends include the Solar System composition, showing that the Solar System is not a special case. However, as seen in silicon and titanium, many presolar SiC grains are more evolved for iron and nickel than the Solar System. This con rms prior ndings and agrees with observations of large stellar samples that a simple age-metallicity relationship for GCE cannot explain the composition of the solar neighborhood.},
doi = {10.1016/j.gca.2017.05.031},
journal = {Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta},
number = C,
volume = 221,
place = {United States},
year = {2018},
month = {1}
}

Here, we used CHILI, the Chicago Instrument for Laser Ionization, a new resonance ionization mass spectrometer developed for isotopic analysis of small samples, to analyze strontium, zirconium, and barium isotopes in 22 presolar silicon carbide grains. Twenty of the grains showed detectable strontium and barium, but none of the grains had enough zirconium to be detected with CHILI. Nine grains were excluded from further consideration since they showed very little signals (<1000 counts) for strontium as well as for barium. Among the 11 remaining grains, we found three X grains. The discovery of three supernova grains among only 22 grainsmore » was fortuitous, because only ~1% of presolar silicon carbide grains are type X, but was confirmed by silicon isotopic measurements of grain residues with NanoSIMS. And while one of the X grains showed strontium and barium isotope patterns expected for supernova grains, the two other supernova grains have 87Sr/86Sr < 0.5, values never observed in any natural sample before. From their silicon isotope ratios, the latter two grains can be classified as X2 grains, while the former grain belongs to the more common X1 group. The differences of these grains in strontium and barium isotopic composition constrain their individual formation conditions in Type II supernovae.« less

We report the isotopic composition of molybdenum in twenty-three presolar SiC grains from the Murchison meteorite which have been measured by resonant ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS). Relative to terrestrial abundance (and normalized to s-process-only {sup 96}Mo), the majority of the analyzed grains show strong depletions in the p-process isotopes {sup 92}Mo and {sup 94}Mo and the r-process isotope {sup 100}Mo. Sixteen of these grains have {delta}-values {le} 600% for these three isotopes. The observed isotopic patterns of Mo from mainstream SiC grains clearly reveal the signature of s-process nucleosynthesis. Three-isotope plots of all grain data ({delta}{sup i}Mo vs. {delta}{sup 92}Mo)more » show strong linear correlations with characteristic slopes. This finding suggests mixing of solar-like material and pure s-process material in the parent stars. Comparison with evolutionary calculations of nucleosynthesis and mixing in red giants suggests that low-mass thermally-pulsed symptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) stars are the most likely site for the observed s-process nucleosynthesis.« less

Ne isotopes measured in individual presolar graphite grains, solid samples of extinct stars preserved in primitive meteorites, provide information on the type of stellar sources of the grains and on nucleosynthetic mixing and ion-trapping processes which were operating. We present Ne and He isotope analyses of single presolar graphite grains from the KFB1 density fraction extracted from the carbonaceous chondrite Murchison. In addition, we measured isotopes of C, O, and Mg-Al with the NanoSIMS ion microprobe to better constrain the origin of the grains. Eleven out of 51 presolar graphite grains contain nucleosynthetic {sup 22}Ne above our detection limit. Thismore » fraction of {sup 22}Ne-rich grains is similar to the one reported by Nichols et al. although we have a lower {sup 22}Ne detection limit. We detected rare He-shell {sup 20}Ne in one {sup 22}Ne-rich grain and obtained the {sup 20}Ne/{sup 22}Ne ratio (0.03 {+-} 0.02) of the He-shell of an Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) star with 1.5-2 M {sub sun} and subsolar metallicity. We also detected {sup 4}He in this grain, while in the other grains, which originally acquired He, He-loss seems to be significant. We found unequivocal evidence for radiogenic {sup 22}Ne (Ne-R) in another graphite grain, which likely condensed in a core-collapse supernova and which incorporated live radioactive {sup 22}Na (t {sub 1/2} = 2.6 yr). For the other grains, a clear assignment to a stellar source is more difficult to make. Putative stellar sources are supernovae, AGB stars, born-again AGB stars, J-type carbon stars, and CO novae.« less

We conducted multi-element isotopic analyses of 11 presolar silicate grains from the Acfer 094 meteorite having unusual O isotopic compositions. Eight grains are {sup 18}O-rich, one is {sup 16}O-rich, and two are extremely {sup 17}O-rich. We constrained the grains' stellar sources by measuring their Si and Mg isotopic ratios, and also the {sup 54}Fe/{sup 56}Fe and {sup 57}Fe/{sup 56}Fe ratios for five grains. The Mg and Fe isotopic measurements were conducted after surrounding matrix grains were removed for more accurate ratios. Most of the {sup 18}O-rich silicates had anomalous Mg isotopic ratios, and their combined isotopic constraints are consistent withmore » origins in low-mass Type II supernovae (SNe II) rather than high-metallicity stars. The isotopic ratios of the {sup 16}O-rich silicate are also consistent with an SN origin. Mixing small amounts of interior stellar material with the stellar envelope replicated all measured isotopic ratios except for {sup 29}Si/{sup 28}Si and {sup 54}Fe/{sup 56}Fe in some grains. The {sup 29}Si/{sup 28}Si ratios of all SN-derived grains are matched by doubling the {sup 29}Si yield in the Ne- and Si-burning zones. The {sup 54}Fe/{sup 56}Fe ratios of the grains imply elemental fractionation in the Si/S zone, or introduction of isotopically solar Fe by secondary processing. The two highly {sup 17}O-rich silicates exhibited significant {sup 25}Mg and/or {sup 26}Mg enrichments and their isotopic ratios are best explained by strong dilution of 1.15 M {sub ☉} CO nova matter. We estimate that ∼12% and 1% of presolar silicates have SN and nova origins, respectively, similar to presolar SiC and oxides. This implies that asymptotic giant branch stars are the dominant dust producers in the galaxy.« less

We have made improved measurements of the {sup 142,144}Nd(n,{gamma}) cross sections and investigated the {ital s}-process nucleosynthesis in the Ce-Nd-Sm region. Recently discovered anomalies of the Nd isotopes in silicon carbide grains from the Murchison meteorite have been interpreted in terms of pure {ital s}-process material from an AGB star. With previous cross section data the {ital s}-process origin could not be confirmed, whereas our new data convincingly support the interpretation that these isotopic anomalies were carried into the early solar system inside carbon dust particles that condensed in outflowing winds of presolar AGB stars. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital Themore » American Physical Society}« less